Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Damian Jurd
Michael Johnson
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
COMP115 or ISYS114
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit introduces basic data communication concepts, theory and practice within the context of the use of communication networks in organisations. Topics include: protocols and standards, including the OSI model; network switching and routing; LAN and WAN topologies; wireless networking; network hardware, such as routers, modems, repeaters, switches and hubs; public telecommunication-based data services; the effect of telecommunications on society; the role of telecommunications within organisations; introduction to security and network management; organisational management of telecommunications; introduction to network design; and regulatory frameworks. Practical work includes basic network hardware set up and protocol performance in a specialised laboratory using dedicated switching and routing equipment. This unit does not presume any knowledge of programming nor is there any programming work in the unit.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Assignment work must be written clearly, with good grammar, correct word usage, correct punctuation,and lack of spelling errors. Poor or bad expression will be penalized, Wherever required, all written work must be properly referenced and conform to standard stylistic conventions.
Note that while the practical material is structured against the lecture material, you need to keep in mind that there will not always be a one to one mapping between the practical exercises and the lecture topics. This is because you need some practical sessions to get acquainted to new tools and devices thereby limiting the number of practical time slots available to experiment with technologies discussed in some lectures.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Practical Workshops | 10% | Yes | Every week |
Assignment 1 | 15% | No | Week 6 |
Assignment 2 | 15% | No | Week 11 |
Module Exams | 60% | Yes | Various |
Due: Every week
Weighting: 10%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)
The practical work in this unit makes up 10% of your mark. The practical work is divided up into twelve sections. Practical classes are a hurdle requirement, and, as such you will be required to perform to a satisfactory standard in at least eight of the practical classes to pass the unit. Each practical contributes 1% of your total mark for the unit, the total mark will be made by taking the total of the best 10 practical session marks.
To receive your marks you must attend the practical section and demonstrate your completion of the section to your practical supervisor. Earning the marks will require not only successful completion of the exercises, but presentation of appropriate documentation, as outlined in the question sheets. You must complete the practical session in the week it is allocated.
Practical classess will commence during week 2 of the semester. Students must be enrolled in two practical classes: Practical_1 and Practical_2.
Practical_1 will utilise specialised networking equipment located in an Engineering Laboratory whereas Practical_2 will be conducted in a regular Computing Laboratory.
The student cohort has been divided into two streams:
Students in streams 1 though 11 will attend thier Practical_1 in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and Practical_2 in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13.
Students in streams 12 though 22 will attend thier Practical_1 in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and Practical_2 in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 15%
The first assignment tests your understanding of local area networks, routing, and IP addressing.
Late submission of the assignment will be accepted, but penalised at the rate of 15% per day late. If you cannot submit assignments on time because of illness or other circumstances, please apply for disruption of studies.
For all assignment work you are encouraged to:
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 15%
The second assignment tests your understanding of selected networking technologies.
Late submission of the assignment will be accepted, but penalised at the rate of 15% per day late. If you cannot submit assignments on time because of illness or other circumstances, please apply for disruption of studies as soon as possible.
For all assignment work you are encouraged to:
Due: Various
Weighting: 60%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)
The module examinations ask students to answer conceptual questions about the course material as well as solve simple networking problems. Module exams are run in the first hour of the workshop in which the student is enrolled. Students may only attend module exams in workshops they are enrolled in. In the case a student cannot attend a module exam, a request for special consideration must be made. Five module examinations are each offerred up to three times during semester, the sixth module exam is offered twice during semester. The student's best mark for each module is used in their final mark. Students must demonstrate satisfactory performance in modules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to pass the course. Satisfactory performance is defined as getting 40% or more on at least one of the attempts made for that module. A student's final mark for a module is the maximum mark they achieved in any of the student's attempt for that module. The exam mark for each module is worth 10% of the final mark.
Each week you should attend three hours of lectures, and a two hour practical workshop. For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.
Note that practicals workshops (lab sessions) commence in week 2. The week-by-week details of the practical (lab) classes will be available from iLearn.
You should have selected both a Practical_1 and a Practical_2 at enrolment. You must attend the practicals that you are enrolled in.
The textbook for this semester is:
Additional reading that you may find useful for this unit:
Kurose, J. & Ross, K. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach 7th edn, Pearson, 2016
Unit Websites
Comp247 is administered via iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au/).
This unit outline can be found in the university's unit guides
Live Streaming
Digital recordings of lectures may be available. They will be linked from iLearn.
In this unit you will will be exposed to the following technology and tools:
In this unit, you should do the following:
Lecture notes will be made available each week but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture only and are not a substitute for your own notes or the recommended reading list.
Tentative teaching schedule, subject to change:
Week |
Module Topic |
Lecture Topic |
Module Exam |
Assignments |
Reading |
Workshop Streams 1-11 |
Workshop Streams 12-22 |
1 |
Networking Fundamentals (NF) |
Unit Introduction and Network Foundations |
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Chapter 1 |
No Labs |
No Labs |
2 |
Networking Fundamentals (NF) |
LAN |
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Chapter 7 |
Network OS and Command Line |
Packet Capture with Wireshark |
3 |
Internetworking and Applications (IA) |
Network Layer |
NF (30 min) |
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Chapter 5 |
Packet Capture with Wireshark |
Network OS and Command Line |
4 |
Internetworking and Applications (IA) |
Transport and Application Layers |
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Chapters 2 & 5 |
IP Headers |
IP Headers |
5 |
Hardware Layers (HL) |
Data-Link Layer |
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Chapter 4 |
Subnetting |
Subnetting |
6 |
Hardware Layers (HL) |
Physical Layer |
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Assignment 1 |
Chapter 3 |
Switches, MAC, ARP |
Transport and Application Layers |
7 |
Campus Networks (CN) |
Wireless Networks |
NF,IA,HL (60 min) |
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Chapter 7 |
Transport and Application Layers |
Switches, MAC, ARP |
Mid Semester Break |
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8 |
Campus Networks (CN) |
Backbone Networks |
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Chapter 8 |
Router Configuration |
WiFi |
9 |
Network Security (NS) |
Security |
IA,HL,CN (60 min) |
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Chapter 11 |
WiFi |
Router Configuration |
10 |
Network Security (NS) |
Security |
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Chapter 11 |
Virtual LANs |
Security |
11 |
WANs and The Internet (WI) |
Wide Area Networks |
CN,NS (60 min) |
Assignment 2 |
Chapter 9 |
Security |
Virtual LANs |
12 |
WANs and The Internet (WI) |
The Internet |
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Chapter 10 |
TBD |
TBD |
13 |
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Tying it all together |
NS,WI (60 min) |
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Catch-up week |
Catch-up week |
Formal Exam Period |
NF,IA,HL,CN,NS,WI (180 min) |
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Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Weekly exercises have been removed and regular module exams will be offered in place of a written exam during the final exam period.
During previous offerings all practical classes were completed in a specialist networking laboratory. As of 2017 we have reconstructed the practical work to include new material that also uses resources available in standard laboratories, and students will from week to week alternate between the normal computing laboratories and the specialist networking lab. Many modern networking tools are now designed to run on standard computing equipment.
During 2017 the unit was run, unusually, with no hurdle assessments. As of 2018 year the hurdles have been reinstated.
Grading
At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade that reflects your achievement in the unit
In this unit, the final mark will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary. The module examination component in this unit is a hurdle requirement; you must get a mark of at least 40% in each of module exams 1 thorugh 5 inclusive in order to pass the unit. The practical classes are also a hurdle assessment, you will be required to perform to a satisfactory standard in at least eight of the practical classes to pass the unit.
Concretely, in order to pass the unit, you must obtain an overall total mark of 50% or higher, a mark of 40% or higher in the first five of the six module exams, and satisfactorily complete at least 8 out of the 12 practical exercises.
Students obtaining a higher grade than a pass in this unit will (in addition to the above)
Date | Description |
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14/02/2019 | ISBN numbers for both printed and e-book editions of the text added. Also, the publication date for the proscribed text has been corrected. |